Month: May 2016

Here I am, with another ootd. As I was walking home with my friend, after walking around town and having breakfast, we passed this really nice and tiny parking spot with an ivy ceiling and a fence of greenery. I have been living near it for 6 years and I only noticed it today. So of course I had to stop and make my friend take pictures of my outfit and I. I am glad that she is pretty good at taking pics, so I am set for the summer. She is also the one who took the pictures on this post.

If you look closely at my face in the next 4 pics, you can see the progression of my smile, since my friend said something along the lines of “Look at what I have to do, look at what I am doing” and I started laughing. Uploading these pics is quite a big step for me, since I do not like my smile, but I think these pictures came out nice.

Back to outfit details, I was wearing a shirt from Tezenis, and I only found out it had slits at the sides when I came home, but I love it even more because of that. Plus, the colour is amazing and I am thinking of purchasing at least another one in a different colour.

The leggings I am wearing are from Golden Point and they are the least see through leggings I have ever owned. Of course, in certain lights you can kind of see past them, but on a normal day, they work just fine. Also, they are the perfect length and are lightweight enough.

Once again, the shoes are slip ons from a brand called Two of a Kind, which I cannot find a link to at the moment. Anyways, they are pretty similar to the Vans slip ons.

The bag, which you can see in the following pictures, I have no idea where it is from since it was a gift from my mother and it has no name on it.

This is the first time I am making this sort of post and I hope you are satisfied with the photos, since I am unable to take any professional ones, not having a camera nor any friends/boyfriends to take the pictures.

Anyways, I went to a birthday party on the 22nd and I was slightly overdressed, since the party was quite toned down. Regardless, I do think that being overdressed is better than being underdressed, and same goes for makeup. I rarely wear red lipstick, but I just felt like it that day.

I have not done my hair or makeup so fancy in a long time, so it was refreshing to say the least. I am going to list all of the products and the links below, after the shameless selfies :

I finally finished reading this book. I think I have been reading it for two months and today I finally read the last 150 pages.

Let me start by saying that this is not a book for everybody. Of course, everyone can read it, but not everyone can understand it. You need to have studied a certain amount of modern history to understand the historical references and the political changes and systems.

That being said, this book is a classic. It tell the story of a dystopian world, divided into three big sections, so to say, which are always at war with one another. The story is set in London, part of Oceania, where the main character, Winston Smith, works for the outer (political) party. Until here, everything seems ordinary. But the way the world works is completely messed up, according to our ideals : the inner party controls everything, as in every movement a person makes, every facial expression, everything they learn since birth. They modify history and turn rebel individuals into brainless puppets, who end up agreeing with the party, after various forms of physical and psychological torture.

Winston Smith is, in fact, one of these rebels who becomes an ally of the Brotherhood (an association of rebels) and tries to defy the system, if not by facts, by thoughts. Most of the book, about 80% of it, explains the background of the way the world works and why it works that way. The remaining 20% is concentrated towards the end and it was, for me, the most frustrating and angering part, since everything in it is against my morals and modern thinking. It goes as far as denying that the force of gravity exists or that our Solar System is heliocentric, saying that it is the party who controls everything. It felt as if I was a spectator who could not do anything about the situation, which is how Winston himself felt. I do think that George Orwell was very smart by doing that and it makes you, after reading the book, want to take a stand against oppression of thought. It shows you what the world should never be like, but could be, since there are many power-hungry people out there.

All in all, this book was very eye opening and I only realised that towards the end. It may seem boring in certain passages, but it all adds up.

Time has come for another ootd and this time I was so excited, since I actually found a very nice background, randomly. I was going shopping with my friend and we passed this very nice grey wall and I literally started smiling, since there are no urban simple backgrounds around here.

So, as you can see, I was donning a very basic look, that I found to be quite chic, and I wish I had a photo to show you how differently my friend and I dress. We looked very weird walking around together : as in, I looked like her mum.

As a top, I was wearing a simple black t-shirt by Tezenis, from the men’s collection. Men’s shirts are cheaper and so much more simple, therefore I tend to also look around that side of the store. You can find the shirt here; I obviously got the smallest size possible.

I was also wearing a pair of leggings by Tezenis, which you can find here, but the problem with them was that they were not tight enough on the ankle, so my mum offered to modify them, since she loves sewing. That is what she did and that is why they fit so good. They are not see-through, which is an amazing thing.

The coat : this coat is one of my most prized possessions. I love it to death and I am always extra careful when I wear it. It is very similar to those waterfall coats that have been trendy lately, but it is shorter and slightly more structured. I got it from Tally Weijl a while back, on sale, and it is not on the site anymore.

Another love of mine is this bag that I got from Zara, also on sale. As soon as I got into the store I only saw it in burgundy and the staff members told me that the black ones sold out. I was so disappointed, because I had seen it on the website and it was gorgeous. While I was walking around the store, I saw it and immediately ran towards it. It reminds me of a doctor’s bag, because of the simple design and the metal handles. I am very sorry, but I was not able to find it on the website.

And once again, my shoes are from a brand called Two of a Kind, based in London, which was available on AW LAB, but I cannot find these shoes anymore. They are pretty much identical to the Vans leather slip ons.

I hope you enjoyed this ootd and thank you for reading. See you next time.

The time has come for me to accept the fact that I have a problem, and that is being obsessed with sneakers. I am not exaggerating. Some time ago I had a thing for heels and I wanted all shades of stilettos and pumps and sandals and all of that, but lately, and it most certainly it is because of a certain Instagram sensation, Sherlina (you have to follow her), my love for heels became an obsession with sneakers.

A couple of months ago, I bought my very first pair of Reebok sneakers and you can check them out here. So, of course I could not stop there; I decided to buy another pair, but this time I wanted them to be in a neutral colour, so I set my mind on white. I absolutely love these shoes : yes, it is an investment and yes, they are hard to care for since you always have to clean them, but they are so so worth it. You can pair them up with anything and they look amazing.

One thing I also noticed is that this type of shoes make me look slightly taller and they make my legs look quite defined and toned, so I obviously love that. I do think that every girl has to have at least one pair of these.

The only problem is that, since they are quite heavy as a material, they make your feet stink, and I am not the only person who says that. But, at night I put some baking soda in a pair of socks and leave them inside the shoes and the next morning they smell like freshly washed.

As you may or may not know, I went on a trip to Sicily, which was amazing. I loved the art, the nature and all the places we visited. Of course I had to document my trip and you can find it detailed in the following linked posts, as part 1 and part 2.

And as always, I had to buy a couple of beauty items, otherwise it would have been a very sad trip for me (kidding). So let’s jump right into it :

1. Energy Mask from KIKO Cosmetics

I spent months looking for this mask since it was sold out everywhere. It is a detoxifying black mask which you have put on and leave on for 10 to 15 minutes; you then have to rinse it off, since it does not peel off. I tend to use it about twice a week and I love how soft it makes my skin feel afterwards. I do put it everywhere on my face, on the problematic areas, like my nose, cheeks, chin, forehead and on my temples; everywhere I get spots or blackheads. Apparently it is not available anymore on the Italian website, but I was able to find it on the US website, right here.

I bought this powder because the one I had from Rimmel stopped working, as in I used a wet brush on it once and I could not pick anymore product. I got the lightest shade I could find, 01, and I did not have high expectations for this powder; keep in mind that this brand is very similar to KIKO, so it has nice quality products for quite a low price. So I got it and tried it and I was impressed with it. It goes on quite smoothly and it keep my skin matte for the whole day. That might be because I use it in combination with the foundation listed below, which is supposed to be 24H-Mat, but it is great nonetheless. One thing I noticed is that it keeps my under-eye area matte, which is incredible, since that is the area that gets oily the quickest. The packaging is also nice, all black and not too heavy, with a mirror inside.

I bought this brush since I would apply all my face powders (as in powder, blush, bronzer and highlighter) with the same brush and I decided it was time for a change. This burst is extremely soft, it did not shed any hairs yet and I love the design, all black again. The one thing I do not like about it is that the hairs are too long, so it is not east to control. This brush would be great for loose powders, but for the application of compact powders underneath the eye, for example, I do not recommend it, since it does not pick up a great deal of product. I only use it for the parts of my face that I do not want completely matte, like my cheeks. It is a shame, because the quality is great.

I am in love with this foundation. I was using the Lumi Magique before this and it was okay for a light to medium coverage foundation, but this one is amazing. I am going to make a more in depth review of this, but all you have to know is that it dries almost completely matte and the coverage is medium to full. Amazing. You can see how smooth it looks in the picture below.

For last, le pièce de résistance, the most amazing nude lipstick by MAC. I have to admit, this is my first ever purchase from MAC and it was a splurge, since their products are not inexpensive. What I decided, in life as in makeup, is to pick quality over quantity, so I want to have only one nude lipstick at the time, but of good quality (of course there are various hues of nude, so I will one lipstick for every hue). The application is so smooth and the quality is amazing, as well as the packaging. The finish is matte and I am in love.

Turning into a teenager and starting high school four years ago meant being thrown into the world of balayage or ombre hair. Of course, as soon as I saw the way it looked on certain celebrities and models, I had to have it. My mum was not particularly fond of the idea, but she accepted it and accompanied me to the hair salon.

Four years ago I had my first balayage, which means that the lower ends of my hair were bleached ever so slightly to give it some dimension. I, unfortunately, do not have any pictures of that first change. I then went back to the salon, about six months after, and had it re-done, a bit higher up on my length. That was an even bigger change and I loved it. Again, I have no pictures saved on my computer, so I cannot show you.

My hair started growing and of course the colour started vanishing with every trim I had. Being a smart ass, I decided to buy the new L’Oréal dyes made especially for that effect. They were called Feria, if I am not mistaken. I had my mum dye it, since she used to be a hairstylist many years ago and the result came out decent. Of course, it was not salon quality and way too one dimensional, but it was not horrible. If you ask me if I recommend it, I would say no. The result was okay, at first, but then it started becoming more yellow, which is what happens if you do not get it toned. So I was left with a Beyoncé colour, which does look great on her skin tone, but most definitely not on mine.

I looked extremely glamorous here with curled hair, but you could see the mistakes when the hair was straight.

As a new school year approached, I decided to cut my hair to my shoulders. I was tired of the blonde and I wanted my natural hair colour back. So that is what I did and I loved my hair.

I forgot about this picture, but you can see the ends were still a bit blonde.

All was well until last year, around this time, I decided I wanted the Kim Kardashian after birth hairstyle, which was pretty much blonde. So I switched up my hair salon and went to another one which was supposed to be the best in this particular type of hair colouring. It was disastrous at first, since they also bleached part of my bangs, and the blonde was way too yellow.

Smiling through the pain.

I then went back and then darkened my roots. That made the process less traumatic and for all three months of summer, I was blonde. I got used to it and wanted to keep it, since most people said I looked great, once my natural hair started growing out and it looked like there was less blonde.

In September, once again, I decided to dye my hair as dark as my natural hair colour, which was obviously quite impossible, but I did it anyway. I went to my original hair salon and decided on a hair colour and I ended up very happy with the final result.

I apparently also got my side bangs cut, a bad decision, now that I think of it. PS: the room is not mine, of course; you know I would never use those colours or have puppets laying around.

Of course, dark dyes do not last very long on blonde hair, so my hair started to turn copper, aka not cute. You can get a better look at it here, on my post about my visit to the Vatican.

Therefore, I had my hair dyed again that same colour and about four weeks ago it started turning copper again, which made me want to dye it. Getting your hair dyed at a salon costs a lot so I turned to boxed dyes again, which could have been a disaster, but it turned out way better than I expected.

I bought the Garnier Olia in the shade “Dark Brown” and made my mum dye my hair. The result was, of course, a bit darker at first, but as of now it matches my natural hair colour and there is no fading. I was very impressed with it. Since the ends of my hair were a bit burned from the dyes and the hair tools I tend to use quite often, I also made my mum cut my hair in a slight V shape at the back and leave my bangs alone, since I want them to be almost the same length as the rest of my hair.

This is me as of a couple of days ago, pretty happy with life, although it does not look like it.

So, my final decision is to let my hair be. I want it to grow and go back to my natural hair colour, without having to use dyes again. I also started using my hair tools less and less, trying to de-stress my hair. Fingers crossed, my hair will be long and healthy by September.